A Debt Repaid
by Kenwoody
Summary: Takes place after Sozin's Comet. Toph dissapeared barely after the end of the war, and now, three months later Sokka is a completely changed person without his best friend. Tokka one-shot. It gets happy later, I promise.


**Here's that one-shot I've been thinking about writing. It's a little dark in the beginning, but gets fluffier at the end! **

**Disclaimer: Yes, I totally own Avatar! Wakes up Wait, nooooooooooooooooooooooooo!**

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A Debt Repaid

**Katara's POV: **I sighed and turned to Aang for help. He merely shrugged his shoulders and looked at me sadly. Nothing was working. I felt the edges of my temper flare up and bit to keep it down. I didn't want to snap at my brother. My temper won out.

"Okay Sokka! You have to snap out of it! You've been like this for three months! Get a grip!" I shouted at him. He looked up at me, sighed, and went to help pack up.

The last time I ever saw him truly happy was in Iroh's tea shop the day after Sozin's Comet. That really was a perfect day. Aang and I got together officially, Zuko and Mai were able to rest before they began the hard job of reforming the Fire Nation as Fire Lord and Fire Lady, we were actually able to force Toph into wearing a dress, Suki and Sokka learned how to play Pi Sho, to find that Sokka was incredibly good, and we finally convinced Sokka that he wasn't a natural artist.

Just after that day things started to happen. Zuko and Mai had to leave, and we said good bye. That was when I noticed that Toph seemed distant and it continued in the next two days that followed. She was constantly thinking about something and felt guilty for something. I remember asking her about it.

_Flashback:_

"_Toph, you've seemed out of it, what's wrong?" I asked her, worried for my friend's health._

"_I was just remembering something that happened a few days ago. Something was lost because of me, and I can't help but feel guilty." Toph said. I blinked in confusion._

"_What do you mean?" I asked. She said nothing for a moment before shaking her head and smiling wickedly._

"_I should be asking you about Aang! Naughty girl, I saw that kiss!" She waggled her eyebrows and my eyes widened. We hadn't told anyone else about us yet, and I wanted to tell Sokka after he was just with Suki. _

"_Gotta go! Later!" I said quickly and ran away._

_End Flashback:_

I should've stayed and persisted. Maybe then things would've happened differently. Well… not everything, but a lot would've been different.

Toph disappeared the next day. All of her things were gone, and she vanished without a trace. We were all upset, but Sokka was most impacted. She was his best friend after all. We all tried to tell him that she could look after herself, and that she'd be fine. Suki had said that he told her that he wasn't worried about that. We couldn't understand it. But we all noticed him get quieter, less jokey, less everything.

Aang, after being asked by Suki on Sokka's behalf had taken Appa to search for her, but had gotten nowhere, even though he scoured the Earth Kingdom. The best lead he had gotten was somewhere near the Western Coast of the Earth Kingdom where a man said that he had seen a short blind girl in Earth Kingdom clothes wandering around the woods. When the man asked her what she was doing she had told him "repaying a debt". We still don't know if it was Toph or not.

Sokka didn't go back to his normal self like Suki and Aang thought. I knew it wouldn't. They were best friends; two pieces of a puzzle. They had become like one couldn't go on normally without the other. I knew confidentially that it was more than friendship in Toph's case, but never said anything. I guess people say I notice things that others don't. I remember right after we left the North Pole my brother had woken up constantly with Nightmares where he'd say Yue's name as he tossed and turned. It went on like that for a couple of weeks, and was relieved when it stopped. It thankfully stopped just before Azula's midnight chase. Wait… I blinked as I remembered when that was. That was right after Toph joined the group.

**Aang's POV: **Poor Katara. She was fighting a hopeless battle, trying to get her brother to wake up from his four month trance. Almost exactly four months ago Toph disappeared, which started it. I spent that entire month looking for her because Suki wanted me to.

When I came back, I started by greeting Katara with a kiss, but then told the three of them what little information I knew. When Sokka grilled me about how thoroughly I searched the forest I sadly told him how I practically tore the forest apart.

Katara and I were close as ever, and I still love her unconditionally, but both of us were so swept up in trying to get Sokka back to his old self, that we didn't have much time together. Soon after we moved to Kyoshi Island for a while because Suki had to get back to Kyoshi training. Sokka seemed a bit revived then. But then tons of things happened when we were there.

Ty Lee quit the Kyoshi Warriors. From what I heard, she was upset at being forced to use weapons, and quite a few of the girls offended her about being Fire Nation. Now, I'm told she lives at the Northern Air Temple, and is going out with Teo because "Their auras are so alike, and he understands me better than anyone else in the world" is what she said.

Haru also started visiting Kyoshi Island quite a bit. At first I thought that he was trying to take Katara from me because he was always talking to her, but I was way off. Katara came back to the house one day and told me she found Haru and Suki making out. Only hours later, Suki dumped Sokka for Haru. Sokka, who was still numb from Toph's disappearance continued on an even steeper downhill slope into depressions.

Katara and I couldn't leave him alone, so he continued to travel with us. Now, he barely speaks, barely helps around camp, and doesn't do much of anything. He once thought about buying a new sword when we were shopping once, but he didn't go through with it.

"Aang, we're all loaded up, where are we going now?" I heard Katara call before running over to me. I smiled and cleared my head.

"Yup. I found a small town on a map, so if we're where I think we are, then it should take about an hour to get there." I said before unrolling a map. "See, we're here," I pointed to an area on the map, "and we're going here." I pointed to a dot that was labeled Lan Ting.

"Are you sure, I thought we're here!" Katara said worried while pointing to a piece of land more South. Neither of us are amazing with maps. We didn't hear Sokka come up behind us.

"We're where Aang thinks we are." He said quietly. We both spun around and I grinned.

"Thanks Sokka! You're still the best at this." I said before I jumped onto Appa I waited for them to climb up on the saddle before I smiled at Katara. "Okay, we're all ready to go, let's head out to Lan Ting. I think we can actually stay in a hotel this time." Katara grinned at this. I knew how much she loved actual beds as opposed to the ratty sleeping bags they still use.

"Yip Yip!" And we were off again. Maybe a city could help clear Sokka's head.

**Sokka's POV: **I jumped off of Appa. The trip wasn't too long, but was still tedious. We were in a barn that Aang was renting for Appa along with the two hotel rooms for us. Several months ago I would've yelled at Aang for even suggesting bunking with Katara, but I didn't feel like it now. I know that he can keep his hands to himself.

After getting settled into the small, dirty room, I had nothing to do. I wasn't hungry, but decided to check our food status anyway. We were very low on food, and probably wouldn't make it through another meal. I might as well take a look around the city. It looked very crowded from the air. I grabbed the money pouch and scratched a quick note to Aang and Katara saying where I was going.

The city was just as crowded as it looked like. Elbow room was definitely very scarce. I had spent the last ten minutes trying to wiggle through the clothes area. Now I was near the end of the toys and games area where I was looking at a couple of Pi Sho tiles. I had just lost my Badger Mole tile, and was searching for a replacement.

I had found one near the middle of the pile and was examining it when I felt someone watching me. Looking around, I saw no one familiar, but uneasily turned to walk away. It was awkward; the feeling that someone was scrutinizing every inch of me, though it almost felt familiar, like a lost memory from a dream. The awkward feeling didn't stop and I walked quicker, making intricate twists and turns to evade this mystery person who I kept trying to place. It felt like the walls of the marketplace were moving and I was beginning to be trapped in a labyrinth. To avoid it, I dove into a narrow alley to hide until the follower went away.

It was still in the dark crevice in between the two stone buildings. Something on the ground behind me caught my eye. It was painted wood with a small blade. The glint of the blade was what caught my attention. Walking closer to it, I recognized the object, and my eyes must've opened up to the size of snow balls.

It was my boomerang. It was in perfect condition and gorgeous from the moment I lost it three months ago. Was it fate that had brought it back to me? I hugged it in a childish way, remembering how I lost it saving a friend who it hurt too much to remember.

I still had its case that I wore around my hip, just like I still have my sword sheath packed in my bag. They were happy memories that I held on to. I rubbed my hands against the surprisingly warm wood before slipping it back into the case.

If it was warm, then it can't have fallen here those three months ago, someone must've left it here maybe two minutes ago for me to find. But who? No one knew about it and how I lost it except for Aang, Katara, Suki, and that old friend who I avoid mentioning just to save me pain. As if the Spirits wanted to answer my question, I looked down to see writing in the dirt where my boomerang was. The words were messy and uncertain, but understandable. It said _a debt half paid. _My eyes widened as I thought that it could only be her. Maybe she was the one who was following me too!

I tried to reason with my racing heart. It could be someone other than my best friend. It could easily be any of the people who talked to Suki about her adventures during Sozin's comet. It could be anybody who read the article that the newspapers wrote when they interviewed Aang, Katara, Zuko, and Suki. Toph (I winced) and I didn't get get interviewed because we spent the entire day hiding in various places to avoid the press. It was a hilarious day as we joked and pretended to be idiotic reporters asking the stupidest questions while hiding in trees, underground, on roofs, everywhere. What I meant was, most of the world knew about what had happened and how I had lost my favorite possessions to save a friend. It didn't have to be her. Still, my hope won out.

I ran out into the marketplace again, looking for a short girl with a high bun and dirty clothes, but the crowd was too thick, and I couldn't find her, or anyone I knew. I sighed and felt a small blow to the stomach. I sighed and tried to block out the rushing emotions that I had learned to control over the past month. I put up my wall of numbness and waited for the sea of emotions to subside slightly as I went to buy some fruit.

This was stupid. I shouldn't be acting like this. I know that Aang and Katara are worried for me. The truth was, I didn't know why it hurt so much. I never thought it would hurt like this. I've lost before. I've lost Yue, and that was hard, but I had gotten over it. But this was my best friend. We laughed together, we've pulled off heists together, we've shared with each other, she knows everything about me. Maybe that's why it hurts. But does the disappearance of a friend always hurt this long?

I decided to talk to Aang and Katara. I couldn't keep the numb wall up anymore. Now it was time to start living again.

**Aang's POV: **Sokka had been gone for a while, and we had started to get worried. We were just about to go looking for him before he burst in looking thoroughly winded. He was panting, but was actually smiling. Something that we hadn't seen in a while.

"Guys, you'll never guess what!" He said in an anxious way. He didn't wait for us to ask. " I was just tricked by someone into an alley to give me back my boomerang!…" He said, then looked at his hand, for a moment where I saw a small tile with a Badger Mole on it. "… and I shoplifted!" He finished incredulously. We both just looked at him for a moment.

"Wait, someone dragged you into an alley and gave you back your boomerang?" Katara asked, the confusion evident in her voice.

"No, I thought I was being followed, so I ran into an alley to hide, and there it was!" I sighed at his quick explanation.

"Sokka, slow down and think about this. How do you know it didn't just fall there three months ago?" I asked. It was weird being the logical one, because it used to be Sokka's job.

"It was still warm, like someone had just been holding it. Plus, there was a note in the ground that had said _a debt half paid_. I don't think that that was just Mommy Nature, do you?" I saw what he was thinking, and I saw Katara grin with a similar hopeful smile. Once again, I hated to play the voice of reason.

"Guys, I know what you're thinking, but we've been down this road before. We thought we'd see someone, and we'd end up embarrassing ourselves by being mistaken. This could be anyone in the world, it doesn't have to be Toph." I saw Sokka wince at the mention of her name, and mildly regretted it. Katara sighed and nodded.

"It's true, we could be overreacting again." Katara said slowly and carefully, trying not to show mild disappointment. I smiled sadly and wrapped an arm around her. Sokka frowned at me.

"You're wrong. I know it was her, I could feel it." He said before turning to walk out of the room. "He paused at the door before spinning around and glaring at me "We're still low on food, and I'm not in the mood for another market run right now." He practically spat at me before tossing the money pouch to the ground and closing the door, stomping into the room next to ours.

"I'll go and get some food." I said quickly. "I don't think I'm the most liked person right now." I said sadly. Katara pulled me into a light hug and kissed me sweetly on the forehead.

"You know he doesn't mean it. We all just need some rest. By tonight he'll be fine again… or something close to fine at least." I smiled and kissed her quickly before grabbing the money pouch and my glider and taking off.

**Sokka's POV: **Aang was acting so condescending back then, that it infuriated me unlike anything had in a while. Not even Suki's cheating on me had made me this angry. I stomped into my room and planned to fall on the bed, but something stopped me. Something black coming out from under the pillow. In my heart, I knew what it was.

I picked up the pillow, and my suspicions were proved correct. There lay my space sword in all its glory, just as well taken care of as the boomerang. However, I was more focused on the note under it. I picked it up and read the messy handwriting.

_A debt is now paid and I am finally at ease. Thanks for everything. I can now say good bye, though it pains me. Enjoy your life, and tell Suki I said hi._

I could only gape at the letter as I numbly pulled the sheath out of a drawer and reunited it with my sword. There was no doubt in my mind about who wrote this. I ran to the open window but saw no one. I didn't understand much, but I knew that I'd never be able to find her if she didn't want me to, so I had to find her soon, before she disappeared for good.

I jumped out the window, sword still in hand and began to run.

**Katara's POV: **Aang had just left before sundown, and it was now dark. I was tired from everything that had happened today, plus the long journey had me wiped. I blew out the candle and climbed into the bed that was meant for me. The dark surrounded me and I couldn't see a thing.

I sighed and lay down on my pillow, waiting for sleep to take me away from Sokka's determination about Toph. She was my best girl friend, and I missed her too, but I had to be strong for Aang and Sokka.

I pushed the thoughts from my head and tried to fall asleep, but I just wasn't sleepy. The window that was left open blew in a small gust of cold air that left Cat Goose bumps on my arms. I quickly shut the window and bent some water in a nearby bowl and adjusted the structures of it so that the water was not boiling, but still several degrees warmer. I rubbed the hot water against my arms until the Cat Goose bumps were gone. Then I bent the water back into the bowl.

"Cold night, isn't it?" I low voice murmured from somewhere in the dark room. I immediately sat up and looked around, but couldn't see farther than where my knees were under the sheets. I immediately feared that this was an Ozai loyalist that Mai and Zuko are dealing with in the Fire Nation. There were quite a few loyalists after Aang, and apparently me too. From the voice, I guessed she was a girl who had just started going through the whole puberty thing. The voice almost seemed familiar in some lost way.

"Where are you?" I asked, trying to hide the tremble in my voice.

"In this room. In the corner. Where are you?" I was confused, but decided to play along. I feared that if I moved to waterbend, the girl would attack.

"Umm, I'm in the bed. What do you want?"

"I'd like to talk to you. How've you been since the fall of Ozai?" I gulped at the question. I couldn't make up my mind if this was a conversational question, or a sarcastic comment coming from a loyalist assassin. I decided to play it safe, because she was waiting for an answer.

"Okay. Not amazing, not horrible." It was the truth.

"You mean you don't like the world at peace?" Once again, I couldn't detect the emotion behind the monotone voice.

"I like the world at peace. War isn't a friend of mine." I said slowly.

"So is there something else that's making it not amazing?" It wasn't a question so much as a statement.

"Just personal issues that I'm sure an assassin such as yourself won't care about." I said, suddenly regretting the words. Still, I wasn't planning on saying to the assassin "Yeah, my brother has been depressed because of the disappearance of his best friend and we can't get him to snap out of it… have you seen her?" That would just be silly and stupid.

"Assassin!?" She asked, and I could hear humor in her voice. "That's what you think I am; a Fire Nation loyalist assassin here to murder the Avatar's girlfriend?" Then the mystery girl burst out laughing before stepping out of the shadows of the corners of the room. She wore the same skin tight pants and shirt. They were a forest green. She also wore a brown and dark green mask that covered her face. I could see long, jet black hair that fell down to just before her butt. She came and sat on the bed.

"Try runaway Earth Kingdom rich kid who's been MIA for a couple of months." She said wryly before pulling off the clay mask to reveal a slightly matured Toph.

"Oh Spirits! Toph, it's you! We missed you so much!" I said before crushing her in a hug! "Where were you?" She looked a little awkward at the question.

"Just floating around the Earth Kingdom. I was looking for something important. I found it, and I came here." I smiled and hugged her again, deciding not to question her any more.

"That's great! We've all missed you SO much! When Aang get's back we'll be having dinner and I'll drag Sokka out of his room! He'll be thrilled! He's really missed you, even much more than I have!" I said squealing and blabbering quickly. I saw her raise her eyebrows.

"I'm not so sure that it's possible with how you're screaming right now!" She said with a smirk and I rolled my eyes.

"C'mon, let's go down stairs right now and get you a room, unless you just want to bunk with Sokka! Then again, he snores and you'll never get to sleep, and that would be a horrible welcome, but I wouldn't want to be the one standing in Sokka's way of trying to catch up with you!" I babbled quietly.

"Katara, I don't think you understand…" Toph said, cutting into my babble. I looked at her, slightly confused. "I can't come back to the group, I'm just saying good bye to you. After this, I'm going to reconcile with my parents. They'll probably do the over protective thing again, but I still am going to see them." I froze.

"But Toph, if you do that, then we'll never be able to see you! As you've noticed, we're not exactly on good terms with your parents!" I said. She smiled sadly.

"Well, I'm worried that may be true, but the four of you could try to sneak in some time and visit for a few minutes on the sly. Still, I just came to say good bye. You were a great friend Katara. Fun to argue with too!" She added the last bit with a smirk and started for the window

"Toph, wait…" I said, sad that she was leaving yet again. She turned to look at me, stopping for a moment in the process of slipping her mask back on. She sighed.

"Good bye Katara. You will always be like a sister to me." She said sadly. She paused at the window sill for a moment before she slipped the brown and green clay mask back on her face. She then jumped out the window and I saw her land with a soft thud in a small pile of sand where I knew rock was supposed to be. She looked up one last time before running towards the gates of the hotel.

I stood at the window sill for a moment before looking down. There was a single drop of water on the sill, and I knew that Toph had been crying. I fell back onto my bed and proceeded to do the same.

I silently replayed the conversation in my head until I came to something she said. _The four of you could try to sneak in some time and visit._ I blinked in confusion.

Four?

**Sokka's POV: **I scanned the grassy garden looking for anybody. There were clouds in the sky, making it dark out. I still ran towards the gates, hoping she decided to take that way, and hoping she wasn't earthbending to make her faster.

The question popped up in my head again. Why was I doing this? Yes, she was my friend but I didn't worry this much for Aang when he was unconscious, I didn't go through these great lengths when Aang told me Katara was in trouble in Ba Sing Se, I didn't search this much when I had to arrest Zuko at the Boiling Rock, I didn't even worry this much when I found out that Suki had been captured. Yes, she was my best friend, but I felt like I was keeping something from myself. Damnit, me needs to open up more to myself!

I scanned the entire perimeter of the hotel, but couldn't see anyone. I growled quietly in aggravation and impending sorrow. I turned my head to the sky, begging the Spirits for help. The clouds slowly continued to move, and the full moon came out from the clouds and glowed brightly, illuminating the garden. At the far corner of the garden, I saw a small person headed towards the woods. A huge smile crossed my face for the first time in forever and I quickly turned back to the moon.

"Thank you Yue!" Then I ran to catch up to her.

**Toph's POV: **I had said good bye to everyone. In the market I had told a merchant to give Aang a message, I had talked to Katara, and I had fully repaid my debt to Sokka. I had felt guilty afterwards that Sokka had lost his prized possessions for me. He saved my life, and I force him to lose his most cherished belongings.

The truth of where I had been was in the Western Earth Kingdom, scouring every inch of land until I had found the both of them. Then I secretly returned them to him, and said good bye. It would be too hard to face him, especially with Suki right there.

I was too tired to Earthbend right now, so I just slowly walked to the edge of the garden that the hotel had. At least the garden was nicer than the hotel rooms. Dingy!

Maybe I'd camp out in the woods for the night before I started for Gaoling tomorrow. It would have to be deep in the woods, and shrouded by a lot of trees, because I'll bet one of them would be searching for me. I doubt it'd be Aang because he seemed tired when I heard him in the marketplace a while ago, it wouldn't be Sokka because he'd probably be too busy making out with Suki in her room until much later. Where else would he be? Maybe it'd be Katara, because she actually seemed upset about me leaving again. She was a good friend.

I started for the woods before I heard footsteps behind me that hadn't changed a bit. Oh crap! I started to run, still too tired to bother earthbending. Still, his legs were much longer than mine, and soon they were less than two feet away. I gave up and turned to face him. I couldn't even pretend to myself that I wasn't happier and more natural around him. The forced politeness I tried to hold fell away to just me and my best friend, joking around like no time had passed.

**Sokka's POV: **I looked at the girl in front of me. She was wearing a mask, and her physique was slightly different than what I remembered, but it had to be her. She may be a few inches taller, and definitely more filled out, and her hair was down, but she carried herself the same way, and I just knew.

"Toph?" I asked carefully, listening to her name on my mouth for the first time in months.

"Hey Sokka! Aren't you a sight for sore eyes! If I wasn't already, I'd probably go blind!" she said smiling as she took off her mask.

"Where have you been?" I asked her, waiting for the answer that I'd wanted to hear for three months.

"What you have in your hand would be an answer enough genius!" She said smiling. I looked down to see that I still had my sword. This is what she'd been doing all that time? The thought never occurred to me, even after I had gotten them.

"You didn't have to do that for me!" I said.

"You saved my life, and if there's one thing I my parents taught me, it's never to let a debt go unpaid. Besides, I should say that you didn't have to do that for me!" She said in all seriousness. I looked at her quizzically.

"Do you honestly think I'd ever want to have a sword and a boomerang if the price is losing my best friend?" I said in a curious sarcasm. She smiled.

"Well when you put it that way…" She said. I smiled at her comment.

"So, aren't you coming back to travel with us? We all missed you!" I said hopefully. Her face dropped and she shook her head.

"Nah, I'm going to visit Dictator Daddy and Mommy Dearest." She said casually, but I saw something contradicting her nonchalance.

"Why won't you stay and travel with us? You honestly prefer living with your parents to living with your family? We're your family too now! And I do remember you saying that we cared about you more!" I didn't realize what I was saying until I said it, but Toph seemed to understand what I meant.

"I guess I just miss them. But, I leave in the morning. You wanna catch up for a bit… that is if Suki doesn't mind!" She said. "Don't wanna get on the bad side of that girl because she can sic Ty Lee on me, who'll probably talk me to death! Anything but that!"

I was surprised by the mention of my last girlfriend, still I laughed at her joke, but also at the fact that she was so out of the loop! I didn't realize how much she missed.

"Just for that comment, I'm going to need to catch you up because that joke is very outdated! Seriously, don't you keep up to date on the local gossip?" I said, feeling my old self coming back. I didn't realize how much of a shadow of myself I'd been living like until I was with her again.

"What do you mean?" She asked, genuinely confused. I smiled.

"First off, Ty Lee quit the Kyoshi warriors and is now living with Teo at the Northern Air Temple." I began.

"Woah! I really saw that one coming!" Toph said with a smirk. "What else do ya got Gossip Gal?" She asked with feigned excitement. I rolled my eyes and snorted at her Ty Lee impersonation.

"Stick to tomboy Toph, it's what you're good at. Hearing you speak like Ty Lee is kinda scaring me." This time it was her time to snort. "Anyway, you also missed that Suki and I broke up about two months ago." This time her eyebrows shot up in surprise, which was replaced by a smile.

"What happened lover boy, your studliness run out?" Now it was my turn for the eyebrows to go up. She thought I was a stud? I snapped back to the question she had asked me, and now waited for the story.

"Well, basically she was cheating on me for Haru." She threw back her head and laughed at this.

"Ooh! Lost to Mr. Mustache! That smarts!" She cackled and I think I just felt my ego go down a bit. "Well, she's an idiot not to see what she's missing." I looked at Toph surprised.

"Was that, almost a compliment?" I asked her in mock shock. She put her hand on her cheek and opened her mouth into a perfect O shape.

"I'm afraid so! Katara is corrupting me with her sweetness!" She said with a huge grin on her face.

We talked and caught up for hours, and I felt myself become more and more carefree each moment. I felt whole again. I had my best friend back. Absentmindedly I looked up at the moon to see that a long time had passed, and the sun would be rising soon. Soon Toph would be leaving forever.

"Toph, you know that if you go to your parent's house, then you'll never come out again?" I said in half joke and half sad seriousness.

"I know, but you can maybe visit me. If you can sneak past the guards." She said in a small voice, unlike her usual bold and confident voice.

"Toph, please don't go!" I tried one more time. This had come up a couple of times before this night, and each time she'd go all quiet and change the subject. Finally I could tell that she got fed up with it. She stood up and stared at me for a moment.

"Why do you care so much Sokka?" She asked in a slightly harsh, but mostly curious voice. It was the question that I had been asking myself for the past month. Why? Why do I care so much? And in the split second, I knew the answer all too well.

"You're brash, rude, tough, strong, caring, forgiving, funny, carefree, different, unique, and special all in one. You're Toph Bei Fong, you're the greatest Earthbender in the world, you're my best friend… and I think that I'm in love with you."

I said the last part quietly, but she still heard it and turned to me with a look of shock on her face. I mentally slapped myself. Of course she doesn't feel the same way back! She'll probably feel weird around me now and try to get out of here faster. I bet I just ruined my friendship with her.

"Is that true Sokka?" She asked, not turning around. I sighed.

"You know that it is." I said sadly, waiting for her to explode, or slap me, or just run away. She just stayed still with her back turned to me for one long moment before she slowly turned to face me. The slap would be coming soon now. She came closer to me and I saw her, now about as tall as my eyes as opposed to my chin, where she used to be. The slap was going to come any second now.

And we were kissing. I don't know whether it was me who started it, but I wasn't stopping anytime soon, and neither was she. She liked me back, and I felt completely whole again.

**Katara's POV: **I woke up an hour ago, even though Aang was already up by then. He was meditating on his bed, although he could be pretending to meditate so that he could flaunt his upper body. If that was the case, then I didn't want to give him the satisfaction, even though it would work. I knew that Sokka wouldn't be up yet, so I decided to take a quick walk around the garden before I had to start breakfast.

There was morning dew covering the grass, and soon my ankles were soaked in it. I decided that maybe this wasn't the best time for garden walks. I turned to head back, but two figures near the woods caught my eyes. It was Sokka and Toph! They were both carrying a small green bag, and my eyes could not have been wider as they came up to me. Sokka was smiling for the first time in forever, and Toph was wearing a long grin too.

"Hey Katara! On second thought, would it still be possible to rent a room with you guys?" She said hopefully. I smiled, knowing that if anyone could've convinced her, then it would be Sokka.

"I'll see what I can do, but I don't think there'll be any problem!" I said happily.

"Yeah, cuz you were right, Sokka does snore like crazy!"

* * *

**Started sad, ended happy! Yay! Anyway, I'm outa ideas now, and am going back to my own actual story, which I've actually already started, and am just having a minor writer's block with right now. Still, I want to make sure my writing skills haven't withered away since I finished this! How's this, I've never written a one-shot!**


End file.
